Aldi - My New Favorite Store

Aldi – If you have not heard of it, you will. This company is taking a new frugal America by storm. It is a fascinating business model with a unique history that I won’t bore you with, mostly. Aldi applies many of the Lean Management principles that Eliminate The Muda aims to share. Their roots date back to 1913 when the mother of Karl and Theo Albrecht opened a small grocer in Germany. The sons took over after the war and quickly expanded to 300 stores in just 14 years. At that point they had a falling out and split the company in two. Aldi Sud (South) is the organization that operates stores in the U.S.

Interesting maybe for a business buff, for you what’s important is that their lean approach translates into lower cost products. This is not a conventional grocer; they focus on the staples and few impulsive items except when they can offer an exceptional value.

Great things about Aldi include:

Sticker Shock – but this is the good kind because of their low, low prices. Do yourself a favor before you ever go into an Aldi for the first time; put together a price list of your common purchases. Then walk through, don’t shop, an Aldi. By the time you finish your trip you will be ready to shop with vigor!

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Odd Brand Names – This is a European company and they buy many products from European suppliers. For many other products they purchase in large quantities to keep prices low and then private label them. My son says it is like walking through a parallel universe where the products are the same…. but then again they are not. They may seem a little odd, but try them; in most cases you will like them!

Bulk Purchases – Hey, check this out, you don’t have to! Aldi buys in big lots so that you don’t have to!

Aldi is a different experience – Aldi has a different business philosophy and it shows in the experience.

Skeleton crew – This is not like other grocers. They have just enough people to put the merchandise out and ring it up. Everything else is self-serve!

Bring a quarter – Aldi doesn’t even want to waste a dime paying an associate to chase the baskets in the parking lot. You have to have a quarter to deposit into the carts to release them from storage (think lockers at the airport). When you return the cart you get your quarter back!

Take a box – While shopping if you happen to need a box to organize or carry your purchases, grab one. They usually have a few empties in strategic locations but feel free to unload the last item or two on the shelf to free up the good ones.

You’re the bagger – Did you bag groceries when you were a kid? If so, it is time to reminisce. Bring your own recyclable bags, it green too. If not they will sell you some bags or see the box tip above.

No Credit! – That’s right they are working on thin margins and every penny counts towards keeping your prices lower. They are not paying the credit card fees. Cash and debit or get out!

Readers: Have you ever shopped at an Aldi? Do me a favor and give your honest impressions in the comments below!

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I’ve shopped at many Aldi stores and they do have some phenomenal deals if you aren’t picky about brands. I think my father buys everything he can there, and one of the reasons he keeps going back is the exceptional customer service despite the low number of employees.

I actually interviewed for a regional manager position with Aldi a few years ago and the Aldi execs actually reported back through the recruiting firm I was working with that I was “too military” because I was still associated with the Air National Guard. I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to discriminate based on military service but I appreciated their honesty and I’m still a regular customer (plus the starting salary was a lot lower than the other jobs I was being considered for).

Thanks for highlighting Aldi’s stores, they are a model of German efficiency and probably one of the few companies who can successfully combine low-cost buying with a nice shopping environment.
.-= David @ MBA briefs´s last blog ..Do mass firings improve performance? =-.

I love Aldi’s!!! I remember them years ago but now wow! I have tried many of the brands and have yet to find one I did not like. My husband actually prefers their chips to the pricey name brand. Their produce is limited but nice and they have some name brands too. No coupons but who cares at these prices. I utilize their meat with great success. Aldi’s is a major component to our fiscal plan.

I saw your CommentLuv link said Aldi on my site and immediately came over. After being in Japan for 7 months, Aldi is easily on my Top 3 Misses list from America.

The prices are the best part. Ridiculously cheap, but the food is delicious. A lot of people look down at Aldi b/c it’s so bare bones and markets itself towards lower incomes, but those are the same people who drive luxury cars but live paycheck to paycheck.

@Austin and Coach,
Don’t forget the ramen. One memorable spot in Tokyo is a small traditional ramen vendor off the street attended by locals only (except us) and none of them spoke English. But the ramen is the most delicious I’ve ever had… hmmmm… that’s in Shinjuku, btw.

As for Aldi, yes, I’m aware that they’re super cheap and their chocolate wafer is pretty good too. However, I rarely shop there for some reason. Call me superficial, but shopping in Aldi is dull. There’s something about the lighting and scattered layout that I find off-putting. I think that’s what the big chain supermarkets are spending their money on. I’m totally sold.

Also, I find that the home brand products from the big chain supermarkets are competitively-priced these days, so I stick to that.
.-= Bytta @151 Days Off´s last blog ..Day 21: A Dull Monday Morning in Australia… =-.

I have not had good experiences with Aldi in my lifetime, unfortunately. I haven’t eaten food purchased at an Aldi since I was a child as a result. My stepmother used to shop at an Aldi, and at the time our family had little other choice. I cannot say if this would be true now, but maggots in my cans of soup, and other rotten food caused me much suffering when I was little and quite frankly I have no intention of ever even giving this store another chance. One just opened here in my town a couple months ago. A friend was raving about the $.59 carton of eggs she purchased. I was horrified. What kind of conditions do you suppose the chickens that produce 59 cent eggs must live in? It’s maggots all over again…

@151 – Things in Australia must be different. Just a couple of examples here: Bacon Aldi: 2.79 Chain: 4.29 Oranges Aldi: .18ea. Chain: .59 ea. (off the top of my head) we found several other comparable examples. As for condition, I’ll admit our store is new so that my have something to do with the clean and organized layout.

@Nicole – What can I say…. Yuck!!! I don’t blame you for forever being turned off! It is never OK to find maggots in your food, unfortunately it happens and happens too much. We have all heard similar stories from fast food restaurants, eateries and chain grocers. In your case it sounds like the blame lands squarely in the soup manufacturers lap, not Aldi’s. As for the chickens I’ve seen a documentary on that, it is not just Aldi’s chickens, it is all chickens. The other stores just charge more in order to cover their overhead.

Aldi’s is moving into the Dallas / Fort Worth market as I type. A college friend and her husband moved here so he could manage a new store. I think their taking a lot of the real estate vacated by the many Albertson’s stores that shut down around here.

If one moves in relatively close to my casa, I’ll definitely check it out.
.-= Jason @ MyMoneyMinute´s last blog ..Wine On A Budget: Oak Creek =-.

We have some Aldi’s around here and my wife and I have tried them out a couple times. We have much better luck at Save-A-Lot which is about 4 miles from the house. They seem to have a lot more choices. They also have more name brand products then at Aldi’s. There meat is also fresh as they have butchers on staff. If I’m not mistaken Aldi’s comes in prepackaged.

A few years ago I interviewed with Aldi and was able to learn more about the company. Aldi’s is a CASH company, which means they don’t build a store unless then can pay for it in cash. This can explain why they didn’t accept credit cards and how they can pay their staff so well.

When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get several emails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove people from that service? Thanks!